Gazetteer and business directory of Addison County, Vt., for 1881- 82, Part 16

Author: Child, Hamilton, 1836- cn
Publication date: 1882
Publisher: Syracuse, Printed at the Journal Office
Number of Pages: 1148


USA > Vermont > Addison County > Gazetteer and business directory of Addison County, Vt., for 1881- 82 > Part 16


Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).


Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57


The Middlebury Savings Bank was incorporated November 12, 1836, and immediately elected officers and went into operation. For a long time the business was conducted judiciously and with success ; but owing to a large


134


TOWN OF MIDDLEBURY.


investment in preferred stock and bonds of the Rutland and Burlington Rail- road Company, it collapsed with their failure, and has never resumed opera- tion.


EDUCATIONAL.


By an act of the Legislature on November 8, 1797, a Grammar School was established in the village, under the name of the "Corporation of Addi- son County Grammar School." Full powers were granted to the corporation to acquire and hold the necessary estate, and for other purposes necessary for sustaining a permanent school. The trustees appointed by the act were Gamaliel Painter, Seth Storrs, Samuel Miller, Daniel Chipman, and Darius Matthews. A subscription was raised in this and neighboring towns, and a wooden building, eighty feet by forty, and three stories high, was completed in 1798, where the present Graded School stands, the land being donated for the purpose by Seth Storrs, Darius Matthews, Appleton Foot, Stillman Foot, and Anthony Rhodes, the greater portion by Storrs. Rev. Jeremiah At- water, of New Haven, Conn., was appointed the first principal. The school is now known as the Middlebury Graded School, and is under the joint direc- tion of the committee of trustees of the Addison County Grammar School, and the prudential committee of school district number four, and has received the endowment of the Grammar School. The schcol building is a beautiful three-story brick structure, one of the finest in New England, situated in the midst of a beautiful park, near the college. C. D. Mead, A. M., with an efficient corps of assistants, afford a means of culture that is rarely exceeded in excellence.


Middlebury College .- This Institution was founded in the year 1800, and is consequently now in its eighty-second year of existence. The buildings have a most beautiful and healthful location, on a commanding eminence in the western part of the village, giving a full and splendid view of the Green Mountains on the east, and the Adirondacks on the west. Its "campus" of thirty acres is adorned with trees in front, and in the rear furnishes open ground for athletic exercises, all tastefully laid out. The many attractive features it possessed can scarcely be surpassed. Its library and reading rooms are convenient, pleasant, and accessible to all daily. The library has more than 14,000 volumes, while the most important new works are con- stantly being added to it. A beautiful consultory or reference room is attached, provided with every facility for making researches, attracting many visitors. The gymnasium provides all needed facilities for indoor exercise, so much needed by students. The geological cabinet has now a new and finely ap- pointed hall, well lighted and arranged. On one side the collection is specific- ally arranged for the study of " Dana's Geology," the opposite side for miner- alogy, and the center for collections illustrating the geology of Vermont. The botanical cases are beginning to receive their treasures, and the specimens of natural history are continually enriched by additions. The laboratories, too,


.


N


STARK HALL ..


71VHI HI.LNIVA


MIDDLEBURY COLLEGE, MIDDLEBURY, VT.


135


TOWN OF MIDDLEBURY.


have been recently re-constructed and provided with the necessary apparatus for chemical lectures and studies. The students in chemistry have a labora- tory appropriated to them. The philisophical instruments for illustrating the physical sciences have also been repaired and greatly increased in number, while a small work-shop, well furnished with tools, has been attached to the philosophical rooms, where all repairs can be made at once. And, in- deed, taken all in all, the College is now furnished with excellent facilities in all departments of study.


In the eighty-one completed years of its existence, it has sent forth 1, 271 alumni, of whom eighteen have been presidents of colleges and theological seminaries, and about seventy have been college and seminary professors, while a much larger number have distinguished themselves as teachers of high schools and academies. Five hundred, or more than thirty-nine per cent. have entered the ministry, covering nine different denominations, forty have been missionaries to foreign lands and " gone forth into all the world," while others have distinguished themselves as lawyers, physicians, judges, legislators, and governors of States. It is needless to say, the College is proud of her record, of her sons, and of her patrons, while every Middleburian is proud of her. Still, the institution is preparing itself for a greater future, and in order to attain it asks the aid of the friends of religion and learning. The faculty extend every courtesy to visitors, and extend an invitation to all in- terested to visit the library and scientific rooms. The present faculty is as follows: Rev. Cyrus Hamlin, D. D., LL. D., president and professor of mental and moral science ; William H. Parker, A. M., Baldwin professor emeritus ; Rev. Lewis A. Austin, A. M., professor of Latin ; Henry M. Seely, A. M., M. D., Burr professor of chemistry and natural history ; Ezra Brainerd, A. M., professor of physics and applied mathematics ; Edwin H. Higley, A. M., professor of Greek and German ; Henry W. Hulbert, A. B., tutor ; Brainerd Kellogg, A. M., instructor in elocution, and Edwin H. Hig- ley, A. M., librarian.


HOTELS.


The Pierce House, formerly known as the Middlebury Hotel, located on Court street, was built by Paul Reed in 1811. The old house has undergone so many changes since, however, that it would scarcely be recognized by Mr. Reed were it possible to wake him from his long sleep to visit it. Through many changes of proprietorship, it finally came into the hands of the present owner, Mr. F. W. Pierce, whose generous hospitality has won him many friends. A free carriage waits upon all trains for the accommodation of guests.


The Park House, located on Park street, is under the proprietorship of Mrs. Phebe H. Batchelder, who endeavors to please and entertain her guests with a generous hospitality.


The Addison House .- The site now occupied by this hotel was formerly known as the Dudley lot. In 1794, Samuel Mattocks, Jr., erected here a


136


TOWN OF MIDDLEBURY.


large house and opened a tavern, which he continued until 1804. Samuel Mattocks, Sr., on the same lot and north of the tavern, erected a two story house called the " green house," and also just north, a double store, the upper


ADDISON HOUSE


HOUSE


(ADDISON HOUSE, MIDDLEBURY, VT.)


story being made into a large hall, used by the masonic lodge. In 1816, the tavern, green house, store, and all the out houses connected with them were consumed by fire. The present hotel was built by Nathan Wood in 1826, upon the site of the old house, and in the spring of the following year, 1827, was opened as the " Vermont Hotel." Different tenants occupied the place


137


TOWN OF MIDDLEBURY.


till 1852, when it was taken by a company incorporated as the " Middlebury Hotel Company," who made extensive repairs. The hotel subsequently was given its present name, and after several changes in proprietors was taken by the present owner, Mr. D. Rider, in 1865. Mr. Rider has made a great many improvements, until the house is now considered one of the best, with every facility for the comfort of guests, including a free 'bus to and from all trains.


FIRES.


In addition to the destruction of the hotel and other buildings on the site of the Addison House, in 1816, several other quite extensive fires have oc- curred, but none to cause any great break in the growth of the village, until the 24th of March, 1831, when it was visited by an exceedingly destructive conflagration which consumed the whole block of buildings at the south end of the bridge, now occupied by the Dyer block. Six buildings in all were consumed, two owned by Mr. David Nichols, and the rest by Gen. Hastings Warren. Those owned by Mr. Nichols were occupied, one as a leather store, by Mr. Nichols, and a shoeshop by Chester Fenn ; the other as a store by E. R. Smith, a grocery by L. Shaw, a shoeshop by E. B. Plaisted, and a saddler's shop by H. Brown. Those owned by Gen. Warren were occupied, one as a store by Harris & Warren, one as a jeweler's shop, by F. Fletcher, a shoeshop by J. Vallett, and a milliner's shop by Miss A. C. Wells & Co., one as a printing office and book store by J. W. Copeland, the other as a dwelling house by John Cady. These buildings were again rebuilt.


About half past twelve o'clock on the morning of September 11, 1875, the paper mill was found to be in a blaze. A moderate breeze blew from the north, and very soon J. E. Negus' clothing store was blazing, followed by the office of the Middlebury Woolen Company and William Slade's millinery store ; but a very short time elapsed before Lane & Clary's block was blazing in front, and the Nichols building across the street soon caught, followed by McLeod's buildings, the Adams Block, and the old Osborne house. The large building of the Middlebury Manufacturing Co., occupied by W. W. Swiney, as a sash and door factory, and the dry-house connected therewith, were soon on fire. At four o'clock, every one of these buildings were burned to the ground, and only their smouldering ruins were left when the Rutland and Burlington fire engines arrived. This was by far the most destructive fire that ever visited this locality, the losses amounting to $172,150.00, Cov- ered by an insurance of only $95,600.00. The heaviest loss was sustained by the Middlebury Paper Co., $40,000.00, insured for $25,000.00. The Nichols Block was rebuilt by John M. Dyer, of Salisbury, and has since been known as the Dyer Block. The Starr Hall of the college was burned in 1864, and rebuilt the following year. These constitute the heaviest fires from which the village has suffered since its organization, though there have been many of minor importance. The village now has an efficient fire company,


11


138


TOWN OF MIDDLEBURY.


and a good engine-house, located on Main street, two stories, built of wood, in 1856.


OLD HOUSES.


The comparative growth of Middlebury village, and its 'situation at an early day, are partially illustrated by the following communication to the Vermont Mirror, in 1813, by one Jabez Rogers, in which he states: "In April, 1793, I came into Middlebury, and counted every building in the vil- lage by Middlebury Falls, and found the number to be sixty-two ; and in 1813, I counted them again, and found the number of all kinds of buildings to be 346, of which 146 were dwelling houses, and fourteen stores. The dwelling houses which stood here in 1794, were chiefly log houses and almost wholly mere temporary buildings built with small expense. There are now twenty dwelling houses in this village, either of which cost more than every building standing in 1793."


The oldest house now standing in the village is the two-story wood structure on Seymour street, owned by Hon. J. W. Stewart. It was built by Gamaliel Painter in 1787, upon the site now occupied by the dwelling of Mrs. R. Wainwright, and moved to its present location in 1802. Mr. Painter removed from his farm to this building and occupied it until its removal. Next to the old Painter house in age is the building occupied by B. S. Beckwith, on North Pleasant street, built by Samuel Miller in 1789. In 1790, the building now occupied by Mrs. S. T. Rowley, on Seymour street, was built by John Deming upon the site now occupied by the Congregational church, and used as a hotel. The Legislature held its sessions in this building in 1800. The dwelling of James Noonan, on Seymour street, was rebuilt by J. Cobb from a house which stood in the rear of the old Female Seminary building, and was originally built in 1793, by Lewis and Joseph McDonald for a store, on the site of Philip Battell's residence, and moved in 1816, by A. Seymour. The one-story house occupied by P. Shay, on Seminary street, was built by Dr. Joseph Clark, in 1793, upon the site of the residence of Mrs. D. Stewart, and moved to its present location in 1804. The house owned by Heman Langworthy, Jr., on North Pleasant street, was built by Freeman Foot in 1795, and repaired by Daniel Chipman for a law office, in 1800. Mrs. W. W. Thomas' residence on North Pleasant street, was built by William, Young in 1795. The house now occupied by Charles Bruya, on South street, was built by Appleton Foot in 1795. Of those built in 1796, the following are still standing : Charles T. Soper's residence, on Court street, built by Erastus Hawley upon the site now occupied by the residence of George C. Chapman, and Orlando Wooster's house, built by Thomas Archibald. During the fol- lowing year the present residence of John Martin, on Washington street, was built for a county jail on the site of the park, south of the Addison House, and moved by Justus Foot, in 1812, who fitted it up for a dwelling. In 1798, Myron Langworthy's residence, on Seminary street, was erected by Bela Saw-


139


TOWN OF MIDDLEBURY.


yer, and also the house of Mrs. John O'Connor. John Jackson's residence, located on North Pleasant street, was built by William Coon in 1799. Those erected during the first year of the present century and still standing, are as follows : The residence of George Marshall, on North Pleasant street, built by Daniel Chipman; Lucius Shaw's dwelling, on the same street, built for a blacksmith shop, and first used as a residence by Capt. Eells. in 1805; the house occupied by L. N. Howard, on Seminary street, built by Nathaniel Ripley ; B. Fleming's dwelling, on the same street, built by a Mr. Wadsworth ; George C. Chapman's house, on Court street, built by Erastus Hawley ; Mrs. R. Wainwright's house on Court street, by Gamaliel Painter; the Congregational parsonage, built by Joshua Henshaw ; Edson Williamson's house, on Main street, and the Damon residence. Upon some of these venerable srtuctures time has lain a heavy hand, while others bear but a slight impress of his fingers, and to all outward appearance are good for at least a century yet. Each year, however, marks a falling off in their number, as they are destroyed by the elements, or superceded by modern structures, which, in the fullness of time, will in turn be counted as the "old houses of the village," each having associated with it in some heart, fond memories of the past, recalled "with feelings of pleasure akin to pain."


The Middlebury Cemetery is located about three-quarters of a mile south- west of the center of the village, on the stage road to Castleton. It has an area of about ten acres, tastefully laid out and embellished, surrounded by a plain picket fence, and has been used as a burial place since 1827. Among the several handsome monuments that mark the resting place of the slumber- ing dead, the Nichols monument is perhaps the most conspicuous,-a plain square shaft of variegated marble, some twenty feet in height, mounted upon a handsome base.


Among other points that mark the onward march of progress and im- provement here, are a local telegraph line and the irresistible telephone, one of the later and greater triumphs of electricians. One of the many novel uses to which the latter is put, is a connection between the postoffice and the residence of the postmaster, Mr. Hammond, about a mile distant, where persons in that vicinity may inquire for mail, and thus prevent a fruitless errand should there be none for them.


The churches, all neat, comely structures, will be spoken of in detail on another page.


EAST MIDDLEBURY, a handsome post villige located in the the southeast- ern part of the town, on Middlebury River, was first established with reference to the mill privileges the river affords at this place. The first application of this extensive water-power was the erection of a saw-mill in 1790, by John Foot, on the south side of the stream. During the following year Foot built a house for the miller, Nathan Carpenter, father of Nathan and Gideon Car- penter, the first family resident within the present limits of the village. Soon after, Joshua Hyde built a saw-mill at the upper dam. In 1811, Foot moved


140


TOWN OF MIDDLEBURY.


here from Cornwall, and successively built a mill for dressing cloth and card- ing wool, and a grist-mill, and remained here until 1849, when he died at the age of eighty-four years. Other establishments were successively erected, and the business and population, with some fluctuations, has been gradually increasing until the present time, and now it contains one church (Union), East Middlebury Iron Works, one hotel, a tannery, a sash, door and blind manufactory, grist-mill, two saw mills, two wagon and three blacksmith shops, two stores, two meat markets and groceries, and one barber shop.


Austin Peck's sash, blind, door and clothes-pin manufactory, located in this village, is the oldest manufactory of the kind in the State. Mr. Peck built an addition to the works two years ago, and has lately put in new machinery. He employs eight men.


The East Middlebury Iron Works were built some years ago by George Chapman, of Middlebury. After remaining idle about four years, the works were repaired by A. Williams, of Plattsburgh, N. Y., and B. S. Nichols, of Burlington. The firm now manufactures from ore brought from New York, about three tons of billet iron per day, which is shipped to New Jersey and Pennsylvania, where it is manufactured into steel.


Grant Bros.' Saw-Mill, situated at East Middlebury, on Middlebury River, has the capacity for sawing 8,000 feet of lumber per day.


Thad M. Chapman, of Middlebury, extensively engaged in the manufac- ture of charcoal, has four kilns in operation, giving employment to from sixty to one hundred men. The coal is used in the manufacture of iron by the East Middlebury Iron Works.


E. J. Olmsted's carriage shop was established by his father, David O!m- sted, in 1835, and the business continued by him until his decease, June 18, 1873, when the property came into the possession of E. J., who employs from six to ten men, manufacturing about thirty wagons and twenty sleighs per year., besides a general blacksmithing and repairing business. Mr. Olm- sted has also a patent machine for oiling felloes before ironing, thus rendering them much more durable.


John Boudreau's harness shop, located in the same building with Mr. Olm- sted's works, was opened by Mr. Boudreau, April 13, 1880.


A. P. Tupper's saw-mill was built in 1873. It has the capacity for cut- ting about 20,000 feet of lumber per day, employing from three to five hands.


EARLY SETTLEMENT.


One of the first conditions of the town charter (see page 64) was that five acres out of every fifty should be planted and cultivated within a period of five years from the date of said charter, under penalty of the proprietors for- feiting their grant. In order to fulfill the requirements of this condition, in the spring of 1766, a few months before the expiration of the restricted five years, John Chipman and fifteen other young men, from Salisbury, Conn.,


141


ยท TOWN OF MIDDLEBURY.


started for Middlebury. Upon a two-wheeled cart, drawn by a yoke of oxen, they loaded their farming utensils, axes and provisions, and followed the Battenkill to the head waters of Otter Creek, and thence down the creek to Sutherland Falls. Here they hollowed out the trunk of a tree for a canoe, which they launched, loaded, and lashing their cart to the stern, pad- dled their way down the stream. When just within the limits of the town, Chipman left the party, who continued their course down the stream to Vergennes, and thence settled in Addison, Panton, and surrounding towns, while he made a pitch in the present school district No. I, near road thirty-seven, and during that summer succeeded in clearing about ten acres of land, the first clearing ever made in the township of Mid- dlebury. In the fall he returned to his home in Connecticut, where, some two or three years later, he married a Miss Douglass, who died shortly after, leaving him a daughter. In 1772, he married Sarah Washburn, and in the spring of the following year, 1773, returned to Middlebury, locating upon his old clearing, bringing along with him Gamaliel Painter, who had married one of his sisters and who became a large property holder in town, and subse- quently did much towards establishing the growth of the village, being very munificent in his donations of land for village and college purposes.


Benjamin Smalley, from Connecticut, was the first immigrant who brought his family into town, also in 1773, and built the first log house, on the north side and near the mouth of Middlebury River. During his life here Mr. Smalley did much to give character and influence to the town. He died in 1807, aged eighty-five years. Painter and Chipman erected dwellings during that summer, Chipman's being located upon the lot he had cleared seven years previous. Before fall arrived, the Slassons, Owens and Hydes had moved into town, and the settlement of the territory had become firmly es tablished. In 1774, Robert Torrance moved his family into town and sub- sequently built a brick house, now standing, on the road to Salisbury. Bill Thayer made a settlement during the same year, and also Joshua Hyde and Daniel Foot. Joseph Plumly began settlement in 1775, and was followed by John Hinman, Samuel Bently, Philip Foot, Eber Evarts, and others, until, in 1777, there were twenty-one families in the town. For some time previous to this the pioneers had enjoyed no great security and peace, as the whole Champlain valley was subject to incursions of British, Tories, and allied In- dians ; but the general flight of the settlers to regions of greater safety was not commenced until this time, just after the total sweeping of our forces from the lake and the recapture of Ticonderoga by Burgoyne. The whole valley of Otter Creek was desolated by fire and sword, but not till every col- onist save Daniel Foot, Benjamin Smalley and the celebrated Mrs. Story, afterwards Mrs. Smalley, had fled. None were taken prisoners from this town, but all the buildings were destroyed, except the houses of Joshua Hyde, Bill Thayer and Mr. Torrance. There was, however, one barn which also escaped, owing to its being built of green timber. This building be-


142


TOWN OF MIDDLEBURY.


longed to Chipman, and is now standing, the oldest in the town, and still bears the marks of the Indian's tomahawk.


The hardships and privations incident to pioneer life are often a familiar theme, yet we can form no conception of them from the settlements of new territory in our day. Now, the pioneer may take his family by rail or steam- boat to their new home, and when there they find prairies ready for the plow, and access to all required for a comparatively comfortable living. Then, no roads were open to guide them, all was a dense wilderness, cut only by here and there a ribbon marking the course of some stream, or the dreary monotony relieved by a blue lakelet reflecting back the azure of heaven. The time- scarred forest monarchs had to be removed before the first crops could be planted, or even a habitation erected. All this took time, and during that time the sturdy settler must live-two short words, yet they preface many a tale of suffering and heroism that might stand unblushing by the side of far more pretentious themes. Before the war, and several years after, there were no grist-mills nearer than Pittsford or Ticonderoga, and even these were not ac- cessible to teams, and hence much of their grain was pounded in mortars prepared by hollowing out the stump of a tree.


After the close of the war, in 1783, the former settlers gradually returned to their possessions, Benjamin Smalley, Bill Thayer and Jonathan Chipman coming in April of that year, settling with their families upon their old pos- sessions. Joshua Hyde also came, leaving his family in Salisbury, Conn., until the following year, and in the meantime taking up his residence with the family of Bill Thayer. Daniel Foot came also with his sons, Philip. Freeman, Martin, Appleton, Stillman, and John, leaving his wife behind until the next year. In 1784, Gamaliel Painter, John Chipman, and Robert Torrance returned with their families. From this time immigration was rapid, so that in 1791 the population had increased to 395.


The town was organized and first meeting held, at the residence of Daniel Foot, March 29, 1786, and the following officers chosen : Benjamin Risley, moderator ; Joshua Hyde, town clerk, and Thomas Hinman, constable. At the next annual meeting, March 29, 1787, John Chipman was chosen mod- erator, Robert Huston, town clerk, and Martin Foot, constable. At a special meeting, January 1, 1788, Jonathan Chipman and Robert Huston were chosen listers. No other officers at this time had been chosen. At the annual meeting, March 24, 1788, Capt. Stephen Goodrich, Joshua Hyde, and John Chipman were chosen selectmen, and also all the other usual town offi- cers elected, as they were at all subsequent annual meetings. The first justice was John Chipman, chosen in 1786. First representative, Gamaliel Painter, elected in 1786. The first born, a child of Eleazer Slasson, 1773. First death, Zerah Smalley, in 1776, aged eighteen years.




Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.